tá grá agam duit
In Irish, 'I love you' is expressed as tá grá agam duit. Wiktionary also lists tá grá agam dhuit and mo ghrá thú.
Meaning: affirmation of romantic feeling (phrase)
Ways to say it
| Irish | IPA |
|---|---|
| tá grá agam duit | |
| tá grá agam dhuit | |
| mo ghrá thú | /mˠə ɣɾˠɑː huː/ |
tá grá agam duit is the standard way to express romantic love or deep affection in Irish.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase tá grá agam duit literally translates to 'there is love at me to you'.
Which one should you use?
While tá grá agam duit is verb-based, mo ghrá thú is more akin to saying 'you are my love' or 'you are my darling'.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'I love you' to more than one person, or to one person in a very formal/polite way, change duit to libh to form tá grá agam libh.
Did you know?
- Because grá is a noun, it can be modified by adding colors to describe the type of love, such as grá fiáin for a 'wild love'.
- In many Irish dialects, the expression of love is often understated, and people may use terms of endearment like a stóir (my treasure) more frequently than the full phrase tá grá agam duit.
- The phrase tá grá agam duit descends from a Proto-Celtic root *gʷrātus, which is a distant linguistic relative of the words for 'dear' or 'beloved' in other ancient Celtic languages.
Examples in context
- Tá grá agam duit.I love you.This sentence is useful for expressing 'I love you' using the form tá grá agam duit.Tatoeba #934942 by Shiawase, translation #1434 by awael58
- Tá grá agam duit, a thaisce.I love you, my treasure.
Example conversation
Saoirse and Cian are saying goodbye for the evening.
- SaoirseTá grá agam duit, a Chian.I love you, Cian.
- CianTá grá agam duit chckså, a Saoirse.I love you too, Saoirse.
- SaoirseBeidh mé ag coinnealóid thú go luath.I will see you soon.
- CianGo raibh adhmadh ort.Good luck.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “I love you” translations and entries tá grá agam dhuit, mo ghrá thú, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries agam, duit, grá, mo, mo ghrá thú, thú, tá grá agam dhuit, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
